Conversations
Vera Mironova: A Scholar at the Frontlines of War
Mironova’s work takes her to the center of war. A scholar of armed conflict, she has embedded with military units around the world, including in Iraq and Ukraine.
Vera Mironova Photo
“The goal of my scholarship would be to better understand war through individual behavior in conflict,” Mironova says.
Maya Jasanoff Eclipse 15Q Picture
The trees began to sway and the bushes gently rustled as a breeze came over the courtyard. The shadows lost their strength.
Fifteen Questions during the Solar Eclipse: Maya Jasanoff on the British Empire, Joseph Conrad, and Judging The Booker Prize
The history professor talked with Fifteen Minutes during the solar eclipse about being in a family of academics, postcolonial literature, and reading.
Exploring Neurospirituality with Michael Ferguson
To Michael Ferguson, contemplating spirituality in both the chapel and the laboratory makes his experience of religion more rich.
Fifteen Questions: Annette Gordon-Reed on Book Banning, Originalism, and ‘Hamilton’
The Harvard Law School professor Annette Gordon-Reed sat down with FM to talk about history and the law, book banning, and musicals.
Jazz Jennings is in Her Self-Care Era
Jazz Jennings’s reality TV show “I Am Jazz” aimed to increase trans visibility by showing she “was just a normal girl going through life, who just happened to be trans.” Now, Jazz is just a normal Harvard student, who also happens to make mermaid tails.
For Linguistics Influencer Adam V. Aleksic ’23, Language is Political
One of the Internet’s first and only “linguistics influencers,” Aleksic, who works under the handle @etymologynerd, spends his time post-graduation traveling the world and creating videos about etymology for an audience of over 1.3 million across TikTok and Instagram.
Adam Aleksic photo
Aleksic’s videos range from silly, like a deep dive into whether the past-tense of “yeet” is “yeeted” or “yote” (spoiler: it’s “yate”), to informative, like an explanation of “Why Gender is a Linguistic Construct.” Aleksic not only embraces Internet slang but gives it thoughtful, thorough linguistic analysis.
Jazz Jennings Portrait
Jennings grew up in the spotlight. Starting at age six, when Barbara Walters interviewed her and her family on “20/20,” Jennings has been publicly sharing her experience growing up transgender. Now, Jazz is just a normal Harvard student, who also happens to make mermaid tails.
Eva Shang on Startups and Storytelling
Shang’s skill at shaping the narrative has served her well in the startup world. When asked about a strength that’s helped her succeed in the industry, Shang pauses for a second, and then replies, “I think I’m a good storyteller.”
Maia Ramsden on Pro-Running, Pacific Poetry, and Y2K fashion
When Ramsden leaves Harvard for the real world, she’s planning to be a professional runner. I ask her what she’ll miss most. “I think I’ll miss being super busy, even though it’s hard to imagine right now,” she says. “That’s what everyone’s telling me anyway.”
Fifteen Questions: Elena Glassman on Human-Computer Interaction, Freestyle Wrestling, and MIT Dorms
The human-computer interaction expert sat down with FM to discuss software design, the importance of bicycling infrastructure, and her time competing in women’s freestyle wrestling.
Fifteen Questions: Steve Hyman on the Genetics of Mental Health, Mind Reading, and Speaking his Mind
The Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology professor spoke with FM about the ethics of neuroscience, mental health research, and his work as the former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. “We have to do better in coming up with both preventive interventions and treatments for mental illness,” he says.
Entrepreneurial Academia with Gary King
Professor and serial entrepreneur Gary King argues that his frequent traversal of the boundaries between academia and industry is “not a double life.” Rather, they’re just different facets of the same job — and, if anything, that back-and-forth “helps both.”
Caroline Calloway Is (Basically) Done Being a Scammer
“I actually think ultimately, in the long run, my first priority in this life is my art,” Calloway says. “If it’s: make books that live on after your death, or have a fulfilling family and be happy, I’m choosing books 10 times out of 10. I would rather make my art than be happy.”
Gary King Portrait
Gary King, Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor and Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, blends entrepreneurship and academia in pushing the boundaries of social science.
Caroline Calloway books portrait
Calloway is a ‘scammer,’ at least in narrative, but she’s no Elizabeth Holmes or Anna Delvey. What she’s stealing isn’t money or any other exhaustible resource — it’s attention. And are you not entertained?